Top 10 Hidden Details in Red Dwarf

#10: Backwards Speech

An incredibly cherished episode is the first of series 3, which sees the crew being stranded on an Earth where everyone moves backwards. To us, it sounds like everyone there talks nonsense, but play it in reverse, and it makes perfect sense. Now, you can simply look up the reversed clips on YouTube, but at release you’d have to go to greater lengths to flip them. Sadly, much of the dialogue is still nonsense, but the outraged bartender’s speech might be the most interesting discovery. That’s because he’s not actually berating Rimmer; he’s berating whoever is going to go out of their way to reverse his line.

#9: Gumshoe

“Gunmen of the Apocalypse” is one of the highest-rated episodes of the series, so celebrated that it won an International Emmy Award. It begins with Lister being obsessed with an AR detective game, mainly because of a virtual lady he’s fallen for. If you look closely, you can briefly spot the title, “Gumshoe.” That’s a piece of slang which simply means private investigator, but it goes deeper than that. It’s more likely to be referencing the 1971 picture, “Gumshoe,” about a regular Scouser who dreams of becoming a gritty noir private eye.

#8: Camille’s Actor

Series 4 opens with a lovey-dovey Valentine's episode, where we get to see Kryten hilariously learn to lie. The core plot centres around Camille, the sole survivor of an empty ship, who looks like the perfect partner to anybody. Turns out she’s actually been genetically modified for pleasure, explaining why she’s perfect to everyone. Her true form is a green blob, but that doesn’t bother Kryten; he falls head over heels for her. It may surprise you to learn that one of the three people cast as Camille was Robert Llewellyn’s wife, explaining why their on-screen romance was so convincing.

#7: Back to Earth Details

The Back to Earth specials are teeming with in-jokes and references to earlier episodes and various IPs. Remarkable levels of detail were added to the sets. For instance, at the Observation Dome, we can spot a picture of Mel Bibby, a production designer who tragically passed away in 2002. He’s also joined by Kochanski and George McIntyre, a crew member who died in the first episode. We also had a shot in the “Price Smashers” scene featuring a plethora of DVDs, referencing in-universe movies from Lister’s T-shirts. There’s additionally a shot in episode two of treasured “Red Dwarf” merchandise, excluding the “Carbug” die-cast model, an item you’ll never get your hands on.

#6: Blade Runner Homages

“Blade Runner” was released in 1982 and quickly became a landmark moment for sci-fi cinema. Its style still influences countless works of art, and “Red Dwarf” is no exception. The show is littered with homages, primarily in the “Back to Earth” specials. To list a few, there are Cat’s origami figures, the giant pyramid next to Big Ben, and the massive animated billboard of a woman. There are so many that we’re unable to list them all, so you’ll just have to watch and discover them yourself. One of the funniest might be how the director’s cut is considered the superior version of both, rather than the original release.

#5: The Admirable Crichton

The Dwarf’s resident mechanoid elevated the show substantially when he became a regular crew member. In his first episode, he’s working as the butler for a crew of former humans, now skeletons. This explains where he gets his name, which is a reference to the 1902 stage play “The Admirable Crichton.” It’s a comedy about a butler, William Crichton, who has to look after a wealthy family after they’re all shipwrecked. The parallels between the two works are obvious, with Kryten often becoming Red Dwarf’s de facto leader, usually because the others are too dim or cowardly.

#4: TARDIS

The TARDIS is one of the most recognisable spaceships in TV history, being the Doctor’s famous time machine. It wouldn’t change a great deal if “Doctor Who” and “Red Dwarf” were in the same universe. Despite that, many fans are convinced they’re linked, mainly because of a small TARDIS hidden in Series 3. It’s nestled away in the corner of a hangar shot, which special effects artist Mike Tucker confirmed was the Doctor’s box. Conversely, a “Doctor Who” comic once referenced a “hard-light hologram” who was a “bit of a jobsworth,” which sounds like a pretty overt Rimmer reference.

#3: David Ross Is Talkie Toaster

In Kryten’s first episode of series 2, he was played by David Ross. When brought on as a regular, he was replaced by Robert Llewellyn due to availability issues. That wasn’t his last appearance, though; later on, he took on the role of Talkie Toaster. For those unaware, the crew thinks he’s one of the most insufferable toasters ever, infuriating Lister every moment they’re in the same room. Ross voiced him for the first time in series 4 episode “White Hole,” but returned years later in “Mechocracy” from series 12. Did you enjoy seeing Talkie come back, or does he get on your nerves like he does Lister’s?

#2: Actor Cameos

You’d be forgiven if you watched every series of “Red Dwarf” and failed to spot a single celebrity cameo. While it had tons of them, they were often done with a great deal of subtlety. Many were actors from soaps like “EastEnders,” such as the iconic Anita Dobson. There was also Hollywood star Brian Cox, who played the King of Camelot in series 7. Celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott also once appeared as a GELF chief, but he had so much make-up on you’d only know he was there from the credits.

#1: Total Gwenlan

In hindsight, rejecting a concept as stellar as “Red Dwarf” looks like a disastrous blunder. Sadly, this is exactly what happened for years, all because of Gareth Gwenlan, the BBC’s head of comedy. The reason was that he didn’t think a sitcom would do well without a sofa, a completely ridiculous excuse. As we now know, Gwenlan was completely wrong. As revenge for the years of rejection, his surname was turned into a swearword of the future. It didn’t stick around as long as the more famous “Smeghead,” but you can hear Rimmer utter it occasionally in the early seasons.

Were there any other details so hidden even we couldn’t find them, or did you learn something new today? Let us know down in the comments below!

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